Minnesota Vikings 2017 NFL draft recap with grades and analysis
By Jordan Reid
"With the 220th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings select Ifeadi Odenigbo, defensive end, Northwestern."
As a player who didn’t start playing football until his sophomore year of high school, former Northwestern edge rusher Ifeadi Odenigbo is obviously very raw. His parents are both Nigerian immigrants and he is the first person in his family born in the United States.
An incredible story, as he received multiple scholarship offers from power-five FBS schools before ultimately choosing Northwestern. Odenigbo is purely an upside pick, and risk worth taking in the seventh round.
Only starting five career games (out of 50), all he did was go on to record 61 tackles, 26.5 tackles for loss and 23.5 sacks. Those are extremely productive stat line for a player that is listed as a one-year starter, but has only truly started half of a season.
Odenigbo has a lot of work to do as a defender against the run, as he just doesn’t have a lot of strength in his body right now to hold up (6-foot-3, 258 pounds). He will need to put on weight during his rookie season, which won’t be hard now that he is in an NFL weight training program.
He makes his money as a pass rusher. This trait alone is what helped him the most in his collegiate career.
Recording 23.5 sacks in 50 career games is impressive especially considering he is a prospect that is still trying to figure out the details of playing defensive end.
The Minnesota Vikings defensive line coach is the perfect coach for Odenigbo, as he is known to unlock the potential of defensive lineman as well as improve their arsenal of moves.